Gas burning apparatus



June 18, 1935. N. T. BRANCHE GAS BURNING APPARATUS lFiled Feb. 29, 1932 rporation, Toledo, Ohio,`

Y a corporation of New York' I n K AAipplimation February 29, 193,2,.Serial No. 595,712

. I0 fclaims. (01.. 15s-109) "This invention relates 'to :improvements ways andrrnean'skv for Aforming andburning `'cofrlcustible gaseous mixtures. f u

A'The invention has yamomgfii'ts.f-cbe'cts .to provide l"5 sigas burning apparatus wher'emthe combustible rsf mixture shall be formed by directing fatb'l'ast'of air a'cross ithe .path 'of iiow "of igars" issuing l'from 'an annularsupply chamber; Y"to ,provide ways andv means foryburning the inixtureiformed `in the manner' indicated; Aand Withalfto .provide'fa gas burning' apparatus yof the 'character indicated which shall be particularly .welladapted .for use withhouse heating furnaces. n V- i :The various featuresof-no'velty fand invention will more fully. appear fromvthe y detailed description ytaken 'in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein thepreferredform loff'the invention'is shown and whereinz;

lshows the improved burner y'apparatus in stalled in al house heating of conventional design, the lower portion onlyof ithe urnace'being shown, the. burnerapparatus being ,in vertical axial section, Apartsbeing in'ele'watiorr;v f

i 2 is-fa'ghorizontal` section correspond-ing toA "'f lineE-'ZonFig 1, and i i -3^shows a modified form of theinvention, onlyso muchof the apparatus being 'shown as will enableitsapplicationto beunderstood. Y

For the purpose of illustrating,theapplication of ftheinvention, there/'i'sshown a rire box or combustion chamber 5 of fa house heating furnace 6, shown as -a hot water boiler, supported on a chambered balse'which ordinarily constitutes thev ash pitfchamberof the furnace; To-V adapt the furnaceto the `present invention, .the grates, with which' theY furnace is ,ordinarily provided,r are relmoved and anvannularplate 8 disposed across the top of the Achamber 1, .there being supported'on said plate an annular refractory bed Swhich Ymay be made of f re brick;V The centralopening throughxthe' plate 'and` bedor bottom of the combustion chamber is indicated at 9.

r I0 indicates an electric motor having its'shaft I l arranged vertically. The motor is supported in any suitable manner as on av bracket I2k secured .to ithe sidewalls Vof an Yu`p`right.ca'sing I3 wherein the motorxishoused. f' i f At theupper endrof the casing `Iii is an annular gas supply' ychambery 'I 4 tov which vgas is delivered bya gas pipe I5.' .The gas ows from rthe chamber through Aa ring of ports I6 inits .top wall. The inner 'wall-ITI' ofthe chamber. I4 preferablylslopes outwardly to facilitate the ilow of air' outwardly over the ports I6. A radial flange I8 may be pro-k videdzfto ypaltrtia'lly".restrictthe passage above the motor I0.

Secured to the top of the motor shaft II is a fan 20 of the radial blade or Vane type for producing a blast of air. In order that the air from thefan may be directed radially outward over the topofthe'chamber I4', there is'disposed'faboxie the fan a plate 2l in such sp'acedgrelationwith respectt'o the top of the chamber I4 .as to provide arel'atively restricted passage `2i.' therebetweern1..v

Surrounding'thegas chamber Iltis a `chamber ,Nelsonwrancha Toledo, hio, assigner l`to- Surface Combustion Co 23 formedbya )wall 26 Shown as provided lwith Vertical slots.24,the.top of the wall"extending1in' wardlyfor an appropriate 4distance Sand" then downwardly below thelevel of the top wallofthe gasjchamber Il wherebytozform an.annular.bai"-l fle 25.' The plate 'ZIzisSupported `by theiwa'll '26 and forms,ras it were, a coverffor the spaceiei-'x compassed by said wal1.; ,The lowerfendoftthe wall'26 is'directedy inwardlyfand secured to a iiange 2l' extending from" thel bottom. wali'of'zthe chamber I4.` t 1. r;

The admission of 'airintothe casingfi@ may-:be

controlled by gravity damper 30 s hungasfvito open pneumatically under suctionxof the fanf, the` primary purpose of the"damp`e`rbeing` toppreverltl the free flow lof airinto theffurnace .when the fan is not running. f

` It is desirable to provdemeansiorvautomatlffv 'cally cuttingof the iiowoffgastouthe chamber` I4v 2.5

when themotorfis not runningrIo this endthere is provided in the gas ypipe ISfany-.fsuitable valve Si which normally tends yto 4stay closedic- To 'open the valve there may beprovided on the motor valve v,opening lever '33, the valve remaining open as'long as th'e 'motoris running. 1 l.

The 'operation' offthe apparatusgthus fardeqy scribed may be described asfollows. When-cur-v rent is supplied to the motor I(l,.thel fan 20"Will rotate and draw :airaintolthe-.casing I3 through the damper-controlledopeningithereinl ='As,:the motor attainsspee'd the fly iball device 32, through .the lever 3 3, will open the gas valve,13l`,whereupon gas will yiio'w` intothe chamber; Mlfrom Ywhich th gas immediately e'scapesfthrough thelports-fl. The blast orv airfrom the fanisdirected radially outward over the top of the chamber I 4 .by ,the plate 2l with the` result' thatthe air antigasl become thoroughlymixed. The gas admitted Vto the chamber I 4 need not be' underihighzpressure and infact may be under very-low'pressurefinasmuch as the blastof air directed'across: the ports I6 tends @to inducea flow of gasthrough the'ports;Y The. initial mixture ofairandfgas strikes the annularbaiile 25withy the yresult that the mixture iills 'the ,chamber 23` completely before escaping' from 1 the vverticaljoutle'et ports 24;

The mixture of air and gas burns around the out'- side of the Wall 26.V It'is'of no ,particular 'conse-` in such proportions as to insure complete com bustion of the gas. Such mixtures burn with great rapidity and tend to burn with considerable f .the same reference characters.

mixture to strike the baille 25 and fill the chamber 23, the highly turbulent state of the mixture as initially formed is reduced to a minimum and the mixture burns with greatly reduced noise after passing through the slots 24. Y l

Where noise of operation'is not an important factor, the mixture may be burned immediately after beim; formed. In such case the apparatus may take the form shown in Fig. 3. In this iigure, the parts corresponding to Fig. 1 are identified by The fan 20' is shown as comprising radial vanes secured beneath a plate 2l' which is provided with a sleeve il' whichl is telescoped over and non-rotatably secured to the mctor shaft H. The plate 2 I obviously dir-ects theblast of air from the fan radially outward across the `top of lthe gas supply `chamber I4 in substantially the same manner as in Fig. 1 with resultant thorough mixing of the air andgas. In orderto" prevent the flame from extending too far away from the chamber I4 the latter'may be surrounded by an upright baille 35 against which the flames impinge.

In view of the fact that. the'gas is not utilized to entrain air but on the contrary merely ows into a stream or blast of air which flows past the gas discharge ports, it will' be readily appreciated that the burner can be operated even when the gas pressure is `lowerthan woul-d be required if the gas were utilized toentrain air, and hence Y the invention has utilityin cases where ordinary gas burners operating on the air entraining principle would be useless. It-will therefore be readily appreciated thatthe presentinvention has special utility in connection. with house heating furnaces since :heat mayizbe produced in circumstances .where ordinary burners-would not function due tollackoi gas pressure.`

1 While the invention has been described with considerable particularity as to detail, it will however be understood that no limitations are intended except as expressed in the appended claims.

What I yclaim is:

"- 1.Y In ya gas burner, the combination of a fan for producing a blastof air,'means for directing said blast radially outwardly from .the axis of rotation of Vthe. fan, means for discharging gas into the blast of air to form a combustible mixture, and a circumferentially apertured annular chamber whereintothe mixture is receivedand wherefrom itis 'discharged as formed.

2. vIn a gasburner, the combination of a fan for. producing-a blast of air, means for directing saidblast yradially outwardly from the axis of the fan,annular means in the path of the blast for discharging gasinto said blast to form a combustible mixture, and means surrounding said annular means in radially spaced relation to form arbaiiie against which said mixture impinges.

-"i3.'In a gas burner, the combination of an annularfgas chamber the top of which is apertured for the discharge of the gas, a wall overlying saidchamber in spaced relation, means for supplying the gas to said chamber without previous wdmxture with air, and movable means for probelow the said wall.

5. In a gas burner, the combination of a fan for producing a blast of air, a plate carried by the fan for directing said blast radially outwardly from the axis of the fan, annular means in the path of the blast for discharging gas into said blast to form a combustible mixture, and means surrounding said annular means in radially spaced relation to form a baille against which said mixture impinges.

6. In a gas burner, the combination of afan for producing a blast of air, a plate overlying the fan in spaced relation for directing said blast radially outwardly from the axis of the fan, annular means in the path of the blast for discharging gas into said blastl to form a combustible mixture, and means surrounding said annular meansin radially spaced relation to form a baie against which said mixture impinges.

'7. A burner unit, for use with a heater having a combustion chamber with heat absorbing side walls surrounding the same and having a bottom closure with a central opening, comprising a gas chamber disposed above said closure and around said opening in spaced relation with respect to the side walls of the heater and having a top which is apertured for the discharge of gas, means for supplying gas to said chamber without previous admixture with air, and means including a ian for drawing air through the opening in the closure and forcing it directly above and across the top of said chamber for mixing the gas ssuing therefrom.

8. In a gas burner, the combination of a fan lfor producing a blast of air, a plate carried by the fan for directing said blast radially outwardly from the axis of the fan, means in the path of the blast for discharging gas into said blast to form a combustible mixture, and means surrounding said means in spaced relationto form a baflie against which said mixture impinges.

9. In a gas burner, the combination of a fan for producing a blast of air, means for directing said blast radially outwardly from the axis of the fan, means in the path of said blast for discharging gas into said blast to form a combustible mixture, and means surrounding said means in spaced relation to form a baiile against which said mixture impinges.

10. In a gas burner, the combination of a fan for producing a blast of air, a plate overlying the fan in spaced relation for directing said blast radially outwardly from the axis of the fan, means in the path of the blast for discharging gas into sai-d blast to form a combustible mixture, and means surrounding said means in spaced relation to form a baille against which said mixture impinges.

NELSON T. BRANCHE. 

